18th Century Women’s Caps
Additional Resources
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Caps, from the section on Cloathing for Poor Women, in Instructions for Cutting out Apparel for the Poor (1789)
Women’s Caps (18cNewEnglandLife)
How to Make an 18th Century Cap
The Capalog: Investigating 18th C American Women’s Caps
Burnley & Trowbridge 18th Century Cap Sew Along: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 (and other videos relating to 18th century caps for women, including a look at original caps, bows & knots, and developing your 18th century look)
Martha’s Mob Cap? A Milliner’s Hand-Sewn Inquiry into Eighteenth-Century Caps ca. 1770 to 1800
How to make an 18th century cap (Art, beauty and well-ordered chaos)
18th Century Women's Head Coverings (marquise.de)
Last updated: Jan 7, 2024
See also bonnets, calashes, and other women’s hats.
18th century caps from America
- Met 1979.346.165
- MFA 49.366; “Woman's white linen cap; full gathered crown, lappets under chin; bobbin lace edging around face; drawstring around neck.”
- Met 1979.346.164, cotton, c. 1750-1799
- Met C.I.37.8.1, linen, late 18th century
- Met C.I.37.45.22, c. 1790-1804
- Fitting & Proper has two caps from c. 1790-1810, one in fine white linen and one in fine white cotton
18th century caps from Britain
- NT 1348928, 1700-1720; “Bleached linen. False quilting onto linen muslin, large areas of linen cut away and elborate pulled thread design worked onto the muslin. Seams faced with linen tape. Constructed in 3 pieces - centre panel with curved piece each side. Edge bound linen tape.”
- V&A T.212&A-1989, Honiton bobbin lace lappets, c. 1705-1710
- NT 1359899, c. 1730-1750, a child's cap (age 2-4) with a half-crown attached to the band and trimmed with a frill of muslin and Valenciennes lace; there are pin marks where a ribbon was pinned
- NT 814614.5, close-fitting blue-green silk cap, 1740-1760
- NT 1349847, white lawn with an inner brim of heavier cotton, c. 1750-1800
- NT 814614.6, undyed bobbin lace cap, 1760
- V&A T.219-1964, c. 1770; “Embroidered silk net cap trimmed with silk bobbin lace and cherry silk ribbons, cherry silk bow in front, mounted on a cream silk lining.”
- NT 1350487, a cap made of Indian printed chintz lined in bleached linen, 1780-1800
18th century caps from France
See also Maria Niforos.
- Met 08.180.984, linen
- Met 1976.3.5, linen
- Met 43.130.10, linen
- Maria Niforos LA-140, French lace cap-back
- Maria Niforos LA-192, Alençon lace lappets
- Maria Niforos LA-132, Valencienne lace lappet, early 18th century
- V&A T.52&A-1949, bobbin lace lappets, Valenciennes, 1730s
- Maria Niforos LA-163, Valencienne lace child or ladies cap
- V&A 775 & A-1890, needle lace lappets, 1740s
- Met 2009.300.2195a-d, linen, c. 1750; “While many 18th century lace lappets and cap backs have been preserved, it is rare to have a complete lace headwear set with all four components such as this one.”
- Met 2009.300.2261, cotton and linen, c. 1760-1790; “This peasant bonnet is from the Cher River valley in Touraine, a former province of France southwest of Paris.”
- Rijksmuseum BK-NM-13253-A, an Alençon lace cap with lappets, c. 1780
- Met 1976.96.3, cotton, c. 1785-1798
- Maria Niforos LA-131, Argentan lace cap-back, late 18th-early 19th century
18th century caps from Germany
- Met 08.180.984, early 18th century
18th century caps from the Netherlands, Flanders, and Belgium
See also KIK-IRPA.
- Maria Niforos LA-236, Brussels lace lappets
- Maria Niforos LA-124, Mechlin lace lappet
- Maria Niforos LA-154, Mechlin lace lappets
- Met 06.643 and Met 06.644, linen, Dutch, first quarter of the 18th century
- V&A 7427 to 7429-1861, cap with lappets, Brussels bobbin lace, 1720s
- V&A T.237-1926, bobbin lace cap back, southern Netherlands, c. 1720-1740
- Maria Niforos LA-148, Brussels lace cap-back, c. 1740
- MFA 55.588, probably Dutch; “Linen cap, with flat back and band around face worked with delicate floral pattern in raised quilting the ground completely covered with French knots”
- LACMA M.64.85.12a-c, a pair of lappets and cap back, linen bobbin lace, Brussels, c. 1720-1730
- V&A T.45&A-1949, lappets of needle lace, Brussels, 1740s
- Rijksmuseum BK-1966-100-A, a linen cap with Mechelen lace, c. 1740-1760
- V&A T.50-1949, cap back in bobbin lace, Malines, mid-18th century
- Maria Niforos LA-155, a pair of Brussels lace lappets, c. 1750
- V&A T.107-1916 , lappets of needle lace on bobbin-made ground, Brussels, 1750s
- V&A 781 & A-1890, bobbin lace lappets, Brussels, 1750s
- MFA 38.1206, Brussels lace in “Rococo floral pattern connected by fine round mesh”
- MFA 23.703, back of a bobbin lace cap, Flanders; “The design consists of floral and rococo forms on a ground of bobbin mesh called "vrai réseau" or "droschel".”
- MFA 23.706, bobbin lace back of a cap, Flanders; “Back of cap made up of straight pieces sewed together. A design of flowers and undulating bands on mesh of the cinq-trous or carrelage variety. (The center hole is much larger than the other four.)
- Met C.I.53.3.4, cotton anvd silk, Flanders
18th century caps of unknown origin
- Maria Niforos LA-133, a bobbin lace cap-back
- Met C.I.44.95, cotton, early 18th century
- Maria Niforos LA-153, bobbin lace lappet, c. 1740s
- Met 1976.96.2, linen, c. 1730-1749
- Bijlokemuseum 202, linen, c. 1751-1800
